What does a nonprofit have that a church does not have?
(As a church, it is) ....no longer required to file a public tax return, known as a Form 990, revealing key staffer salaries, the names of board members and related organizations, large payments to independent contractors and grants the organization has made. Unlike with other charities, IRS investigators can’t initiate an audit on a church unless a high-level Treasury Department official has approved the investigation.
Yup - a church effectively has no accountability to the public - the very public that through the IRS supports the designation of a tax exemption.
ProPublica released a report today on the "trend" of certain nonprofits changing their tax status to that of a church where effectively none of the rules of transparency and accountability apply. Who might we then hold accountable: the IRS of course! But in the meantime folks like what was formerly knowns as Focus on the Family and now the Family Research Council (yes, the folks that brought you a "faith" hate thy neighbor (the LGBTQ community among others) are now a church with their exec their lead ministry.
At very minimum the fault does not singularly rest with the IRS as it does with the Congress who sets the parameters and clearly limits enforcement or at least tolerates incongruity.
So, if you would like to cover-up what is going on at your nonprofit or at least cover-up who are your donors, then go ahead and convert (get it?) your organization to a church. Or maybe you would like to start you very own hate-focused tax-exempt church - feel free - no one is going to stop you. It's a free county.
You can check out the ProPublica story here.